Called

Follow how God leads me as I serve Him in Matagalpa, Nicaragua

Finally, a long awaited update.

So its been quite awhile since i have last posted. I feel like I always have that problem, where I post regularly for awhile and then I get side tracked and forget to update everyone what is going on. So updates from the last few months, and I will try  to be more regular in the future (Jennie I promise I will try).

So backing up a little bit. We now have 8 members of our team here in Nicaragua. We were blessed to have the Harbinsons (Eric, Wendy, and their daughter Kaylee) have moved here to serve with Project 127. They have been learning the language and the culture and already it feels as if they have been here forever.

We have changed the focus of our Sunday night Bible Study. We were studying through “The Purpose Driven Life”, giving students a chance to practice reading and discussing in English, while also getting a chance to share of God’s love with them. Now we have moved onto doing a topical study. This past week we talked about fear. We also had a few new people come out to join the study. It continues to amaze me how much God uses English to allow us to minister to the people here since we are still learning the language here.

We have also started a youth group that is bilingual. Every other week we strive to have an activity that is both fun and shares about Jesus with the youth here in the city. We conduct the group in both English and Spanish, allowing us to reach a wide variety of people here in the city. I  have also still been teaching the English class Saturday mornings in Lucinda Mantilla. I love teaching the youth of the area, and slowly but surely they are learning. I was able to bring two friends of mine, Jennie and Lucy, to visit the class while they were here and the kids loved getting to practice their English. I believe that this will help to motivate them to continue to learn. I am going to be trying to enroll each of them into the English Academy here in the city so that they can continue learning even when I have groups here this summer and I am unable to make it out to teach.

I was able to spend three weeks at home in May, visiting churches, catching up with people, and hosting my sister’s bridal shower. It was great getting to visit with everyone, although I swear all I did was eat and sleep. It is always weird being home, reverse culture shock, and when I finally get used to it, it is time to come back to Nicaragua again. I will get to go back and visit again for about 10 days in July to celebrate Heather and Kyle’s wedding. I cannot wait to celebrate with them.

When I returned to Nicaragua, I brought a team from my church back with me. We had 13 people from Pennsylvania, and 7 from North Carolina make up our first team of the summer. We spent the week serving up in the mountain communities, Delirio and San Antonio. We painted the school in San Antonio and did repairs on the bathrooms, played with the kids, attended church and sang songs with them. In Delirio we started work on the foundation of the schoolhouse, took a census, handed out clothing for each member of the community, and did some activities with the kids. We also had a chance to visit the waterfall and baptize three people, visit the trash dump and hand out clothing to everyone there, teach at the English academy, and spend time going around the town and getting to know the people here.

After the group left, two of my friends Jennie and Lucy, stayed for a second week. I loved spending that time with them. They are two of my best friends and I had missed them so much while I was here, so it was great to spend some time with just them.  I took them to a few different classes to share with people in English, went to visit some different churches, sold clothing, moved everything out of the mission house as our lease ended, had lot of coffee, went to the nutrition center, and hung out with some of the street kids. All in all it was an amazing two weeks. I loved having my friends here and can’t wait for them to come back. Nicaragua has that way of getting under your skin. Once you’ve been here, you just can’t wait to come back. That’s what it did for me. I am so happy to be serving here.

  1. lbritt posted this